IRVINE, Calif. – July 31, 2006 – North Carolina reported 1,694 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process in July, a 26 percent increase in activity from the 1,343 properties reported in June, and a 17 percent increase from the 1,449 properties reported for the same month last year, according to the RealtyTrac™ July 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with more than 600,000 properties from more than 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate, AOL Real Estate and Knight Ridder Online.

“After reaching a low point in June, North Carolina foreclosures are on the rise again,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.“An extremely strong housing market during the last few years has bolstered the state’s employment growth.As this market begins to show signs of deceleration, we may see foreclosure numbers rise.”

North Carolina ranked 15th in the nation for total foreclosures in July. The state’s foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 2,078 households — 60 percent of the national average — ranks it 21st among the 50 states.

MecklenburgCounty Accounted for Largest Share of State Total

Leading the state in foreclosures for the month was MecklenburgCounty, reporting 594 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process.WakeCounty came in second, reporting 170 properties followed by GastonCounty, reporting 75 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process.

Highest Foreclosure Rate Posted in MecklenburgCounty

MecklenburgCounty also posted the state’s highest foreclosure rate in July, reporting one new foreclosure filing for every 493 households — 4.2 times the state average and 2.5 times the national average. Reporting one new foreclosure filing for every 837 households – 2.5 times the state average and 1.5 times the national average – Johnston County had the second highest foreclosure rate, followed by Gaston County with one new foreclosure filing for every 1,051 households – two times the state average and 1.2 times the national average.

State Accounts for 1.8 Percent of National Total

North Carolina‘s foreclosure activity accounted for 1.8 percent of the 92,845 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process nationwide in July. The national total represents a 5 percent increase from the 88,194 foreclosures reported in June. The nation’s foreclosure rate increased to one new foreclosure filing for every 1,245 households during the month.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of homes in some stage of foreclosure nationwide, by state and by county. RealtyTrac’s report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Pre-foreclosures — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Foreclosures — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

North Carolina Foreclosure Market by County – July 2006

CountyName

NOD

NTS

NFS

LIS

REO

Total

1 in every # households

/NationalAverage

/StateAverage

United States

20,202

38,173

4,795

13,295

16,380

92,845

1,245

—

—

North Carolina

468

110

0

0

1,116

1,694

1,343

0.60

—

Alamance

18

3

0

0

27

48

1,155

1.08

1.80

Alexander

0

0

0

0

3

3

4,699

0.27

0.44

Alleghany

0

0

0

0

1

1

6,412

0.19

0.32

Anson

0

0

0

0

1

1

10,221

0.12

0.20

Ashe

0

0

0

0

1

1

13,268

0.09

0.16

Avery

0

0

0

0

2

2

5,956

0.21

0.35

Beaufort

0

1

0

0

3

4

5,535

0.23

0.38

Brunswick

0

0

0

0

3

3

17,144

0.07

0.12

Buncombe

9

2

0

0

29

40

2,349

0.53

0.88

Burke

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Cabarrus

0

6

0

0

19

25

2,114

0.59

0.98

Caldwell

14

1

0

0

14

29

1,153

1.08

1.80

Camden

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Carteret

0

0

0

0

1

1

40,947

0.03

0.05

Caswell

0

0

0

0

2

2

4,801

0.26

0.43

Catawba

0

1

0

0

23

24

2,497

0.50

0.83

Chatham

0

0

0

0

2

2

10,679

0.12

0.19

Cherokee

0

1

0

0

0

1

13,499

0.09

0.15

Chowan

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Clay

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Cleveland

1

1

0

0

2

4

10,079

0.12

0.21

Columbus

0

0

0

0

1

1

24,060

0.05

0.09

Craven

1

0

0

0

3

4

9,538

0.13

0.22

Cumberland

1

7

0

0

55

63

1,880

0.66

1.11

Currituck

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Dare

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Davidson

0

0

0

0

5

5

12,486

0.10

0.17

Davie

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Duplin

0

2

0

0

1

3

6,840

0.18

0.30

Durham

0

3

0

0

51

54

1,768

0.70

1.18

Edgecombe

0

1

0

0

1

2

12,001

0.10

0.17

Forsyth

2

7

0

0

55

64

2,080

0.60

1.00

Franklin

7

0

0

0

6

13

1,566

0.80

1.33

Gaston

24

7

0

0

44

75

1,051

1.18

1.98

Granville

0

1

0

0

2

3

5,965

0.21

0.35

Greene

1

1

0

0

1

3

2,456

0.51

0.85

Guilford

0

8

0

0

55

63

2,863

0.43

0.73

Halifax

0

0

0

0

1

1

25,309

0.05

0.08

Harnett

11

0

0

0

10

21

1,838

0.68

1.13

Haywood

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Henderson

0

1

0

0

0

1

42,996

0.03

0.05

Hertford

0

1

0

0

1

2

4,862

0.26

0.43

Hoke

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Iredell

2

1

0

0

46

49

1,060

1.18

1.96

Johnston

34

2

0

0

24

60

837

1.49

2.48

Lee

0

0

0

0

11

11

1,810

0.69

1.15

Lenoir

0

2

0

0

1

3

9,061

0.14

0.23

Lincoln

0

1

0

0

2

3

8,572

0.15

0.24

Macon

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Madison

0

0

0

0

4

4

2,431

0.51

0.86

Martin

0

1

0

0

0

1

10,930

0.11

0.19

McDowell

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Mecklenburg

226

13

0

0

355

594

493

2.53

4.22

Mitchell

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Montgomery

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Moore

10

0

0

0

0

10

3,515

0.35

0.59

Nash

8

1

0

0

11

20

1,853

0.67

1.12

New Hanover

4

2

0

0

10

16

4,976

0.25

0.42

Northampton

0

0

0

0

1

1

10,455

0.12

0.20

Onslow

0

1

0

0

0

1

55,726

0.02

0.04

Orange

0

0

0

0

2

2

24,645

0.05

0.08

Pamlico

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Pasquotank

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Pender

3

0

0

0

6

9

2,311

0.54

0.90

Person

0

0

0

0

10

10

1,550

0.80

1.34

Pitt

0

5

0

0

3

8

7,301

0.17

0.28

Polk

0

1

0

0

1

2

4,596

0.27

0.45

Randolph

0

1

0

0

10

11

4,949

0.25

0.42

Richmond

0

0

0

0

1

1

19,886

0.06

0.10

Robeson

3

2

0

0

3

8

5,972

0.21

0.35

Rockingham

2

0

0

0

2

4

10,052

0.12

0.21

Rowan

0

0

0

0

28

28

1,928

0.65

1.08

Rutherford

2

0

0

0

4

6

4,923

0.25

0.42

Sampson

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Scotland

0

0

0

0

1

1

14,693

0.08

0.14

Stanly

0

0

0

0

1

1

24,582

0.05

0.08

Stokes

1

0

0

0

3

4

4,816

0.26

0.43

Surry

0

0

0

0

1

1

31,033

0.04

0.07

Swain

0

1

0

0

0

1

7,105

0.18

0.29

Transylvania

0

1

0

0

0

1

15,553

0.08

0.13

Union

0

5

0

0

27

32

1,428

0.87

1.46

Vance

0

2

0

0

5

7

2599

0.48

0.80

Wake

66

10

0

0

94

170

1,523

0.82

1.36

Washington

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Watauga

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

Wayne

18

2

0

0

14

34

1,392

0.89

1.49

Wilkes

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.00

0.00

Wilson

0

0

0

0

4

4

7,682

0.16

0.27

Yadkin

0

1

0

0

6

7

2,260

0.55

0.92

Yancey

0

0

0

0

0

0

—

0.00

0.00

About RealtyTrac Inc.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value. Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new construction properties, with more than 1 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to AOL Real Estate, MSN Real Estate and Yahoo! Real Estate. For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.